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Category: Lambert News

Fruit smoothies and other specialty drinks are now flowing on the C Concourse at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport with the opening of Jamba Juice. The new location, the third in the St. Louis area, is located near gate C24 in the concourse serving passengers for American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, US Airways, Frontier Airlines, Cape Air and Air Choice One.

In addition to smoothies and juices, Jamba Juice also offers sandwiches, mini-wraps, breakfast wraps, baked goods and snacks. This Airport store is operated by OHM Concessions, a partner with HMSHost, Lambert’s master food and beverage concessionaire.

The Jamba Juice is the latest in a string of new food and beverage options for Lambert travelers. In recent weeks, Lambert has opened Great Wraps on the C Concourse and The Pasta House, featuring Schlafly Beer, in Terminal 2.

Angel Ramos has joined the senior staff at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport as Assistant Director of Engineering. Ramos, who is a Professional Engineer, manages a team that oversees all design and construction programs for airfield and facility projects.

Ramos has spent his entire career in civil engineering in the aviation facility sector managing projects in Missouri, Michigan and Florida. Prior to joining Lambert, Ramos was the Aviation Civil Engineer at Spirit of St. Louis Airport in St. Louis County from 2006 to 2014. He has also managed major runway and airfield projects at Miami International Airport and Bishop International Airport in Flint, MI.

Ramos holds a master’s in civil engineering from Michigan State University and is currently the State Director of Missouri Society of Professional Engineers.

Severe winter weather through the first three months of 2014 impacted travel numbers for Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. Through the first quarter, when Lambert experienced a large number of airline cancellations due to weather across the U.S., Lambert saw a 4.4 percent drop in total passengers. The Airport recorded 2,731,968 total passengers (arriving and departing) vs 2,858,057 in the same time frame in 2013.

The number of aircraft departures dropped 7.8 percent in the first three months versus 2013, another indication of the impact of cancelled flights.

“The impact on our flight activity was not unexpected considering we just faced one of the worst winter seasons in the last two decades. And it wasn’t just here, but across the U.S.,” said Lambert Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge. “We certainly don’t see this as a trend that will continue because we’ve moved into the better weather seasons.”

Lambert-St. Louis International Airport will shut down runway 11/29 on the morning of Saturday, April 19 to hold a 2-hour full scale exercise of its emergency plan involving the response to an aircraft crash.

During the training, Airport Rescue Firefighters (ARFF) will be the first responders and will attack a live fire produced from a Mobile Aircraft Trainer, a 50-ft fuselage which produces flames to simulate a fully engulfed aircraft (pictured left). The exercise begins at 10 a.m. and will be completed by 12 noon.

The aircraft firefighting trainer will be staged at the east end of Runway 11/29 as part of a mock crash site of a jet.

Airport Police, EMS, and dozens of other departments will be participating in the drill along with support from Lambert airlines and two area hospitals.

As part of the exercise, the Airport’s emergency responders will coordinate the treatment and transportation of crash victims, made up of a few dozen volunteers. Some of the volunteers will be transported to area hospitals to extend the emergency training to those facilities. Airline staff will simulate the operation of a victim support center in the Airport, which is required by the FAA during major aircraft incidents.

The full scale emergency plan exercise is required for all commercial airports by the FAA every three years.

The Pasta House Co. and Schlafly Beer are two well-known brands in St. Louis with venues at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. They have now expanded at Lambert with a combination venue in Terminal 2 that now features the best of both the Pasta House and Schlafly craft brews.

The 1,500 sq. ft. restaurant and bar is open across from Gate E4 serving passengers for Southwest Airlines and Air Tran Airways.

Passengers can find all the traditional Pasta House menu items from spaghetti, lasagna, penne primavera and pizza. Appetizers, sandwiches, soups, salads and burgers are also on the menu. Customers will find the full selection of Schlafly beers at this location as well as rotating food specials inspired by Schlafly, which operates three restaurant locations in St. Louis including its venue in Concourse C. The other Pasta House location is in the lower level of Terminal 1. There are 16 company-owned and franchise-operated Pasta House Co. locations throughout St. Louis with other stores in eastern Missouri and western Kentucky.

The new venue is solely operated by St. Louis based OHM Concessions Group, LLC. OHM also operates other airport venues, including Dunkin Donuts and Great American Bagel as a sub-contractor for HMSHost, the Airport’s food and beverage concessionaire.

Warmer weather and bright skies are helping to push the major Terminal 1 copper roof replacement project along at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. After a few weeks of demolition of the original roof and sub-layers on the first dome under construction, there was a mini milestone.

Roofers layed down the first section of new copper. One down and thousands more to go.

St. Louis sports fans rejoice. One of St. Louis’ most popular restaurants is expanding with a new location at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport in the A Concourse. Mike Shannon’s Grill will be the third location for the family owned steak and seafood restaurant, which is named for the former St. Louis Cardinals player and the team’s long-time radio and TV broadcaster. It will open by early summer.

The signature Mike Shannon’s near Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis has been an institution for 25 years because of its menu and its stunning collection of Cardinals and baseball memorabilia. The Airport location will carry a similar theme and a variation on the menu featured at Mike Shannon’s Grill in nearby Edwardsville, Ill.

“This will be upscale comfort food with some of our signature steakhouse cuts,” said owner Pat Shannon-VanMatre. Menu items will include salads, wraps, soups and burgers. Petite filets and ribeyes, along with fish and chicken, round out the meal selections on the menu. A breakfast menu will also be available at the airport location.

The restaurant, to be located adjacent to gate A12 at the location currently operated as The Local, will also feature one-of–a kind Cardinals and baseball memorabilia collected by Mike Shannon over decades.

“We hope people coming through appreciate that St. Louis is the best baseball town in the country,” said Shannon-VanMatre.

The new Mike Shannon’s Grill is part of a partnership with HMSHost, Lambert’s master food and beverage concessionaire. The new restaurant will feature nearly 90 seats in the dining and bar areas. The space will be renovated in the coming weeks with dark leather upholstered seating accented by wood finishes and rounded out with a custom display of some amazing baseball history.

Southwest Airlines is expanding service this year from St. Louis to three destinations including new non-stop service to San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The daily roundtrip service to SFO from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (STL) will begin September 30, 2014.

Also this year, Southwest announced it is expanding service from STL to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Starting June 8, service to LAX will increase from two daily roundtrips to three daily roundtrips. The DCA service will also increase from two daily flights to three daily flights beginning November 2.

“We’re excited about the additional non-stop service to SFO because we have strong flow of traffic there and we think that market will do well,” said Lambert Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge. “The increased flights to Washington DC and Los Angeles are just as valuable for this region and we applaud southwest for continuing to look at new opportunities for growth that increases connectivity to and from our region.”

Southwest is Lambert’s largest carrier currently operating 91daily departures to 33 non-stop destinations. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, Air Tran Airways, operates another two flights a day.

Lambert-St. Louis International Airport welcomes two new commissioners to the 17-member St. Louis Airport Commission. June McAllister Fowler, vice president, corporate and public communications for BJC HealthCare, was appointed by St. Louis City Mayor Francis Slay. Samuel P. Jenkins, organization development consultant at Washington University School of Medicine, former Boeing executive, and owner of SPJ Consulting, LLC was appointed to the Commission by St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley.

June Fowler leads all internal, external and public policy communications and community relations efforts on behalf of BJC HealthCare, one of the largest private employers in Missouri. Prior to BJC, Fowler was senior director of communications and community affairs for Mallinckrodt. She began her career as an urban planner with St. Louis County government. Fowler holds a master’s degree in urban affairs from Washington University in St. Louis and a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Missouri Columbia. Fowler currently sits on several community boards including Westminster College, Citizens for Modern Transit, KIPP St. Louis and Health Care Industry Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Samuel Jenkins joined Washington University School of Medicine and the newly created human resources applied leadership group in 2012. He delivers leadership development, coaching, and team building support to faculty and staff. Jenkins retired from The Boeing Company in 2007 as the vice president of Ethics for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. Jenkins holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Oklahoma and an MBA from Fontbonne University in St. Louis. He currently serves on the board of directors for Marygrove, a residential treatment center for children, and previously served on several boards of directors, community advisory boards, and most recently the St. Louis County Board for Highways and Traffic.

Lambert-St. Louis International Airport is proud to welcome a new exhibition by Missouri State Parks titled “Missouri Made,” now on display through June 30, 2014 at the Lambert Gallery in Terminal 1. “Missouri Made” highlights the varied and unique collection of Missouri materials, art and artifacts from the Missouri State Museum in Jefferson City, Missouri. The exhibition objects demonstrate a wide-range of artistic skills and creativity.

Exploring five themes in five cases, the objects include raw materials of industry, one-of-a-kind crafts and manufactured goods. Hand-knit clothing, paper art, a hand-carved cane, and a stained glass sampler are just a few of the artifacts that will be featured in the display cases. The exhibit explores ideas of individual creativity and mass production, and showcases examples of unexpected beauty found within Missouri’s natural resources.

The Lambert Gallery is located in Terminal 1 in Baggage Claim near the exit for Concourse C. It was selected by the Airport Art Advisory Committee (AAAC) as one of several exhibits on display in 2014 as part of the Airport’s Art and Culture Program. The exhibit is sponsored in part by the St. Louis Regional Arts Commission and the Missouri Arts Council.

The Missouri State Museum, which is part of Missouri State Parks, is located on the first floor of the Missouri State Capitol. For more information, contact the Museum at 573-751-2854. For information on state parks and historic sites, visit mostateparks.com. Missouri State Parks is a division of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.